Facebook shakes up privacy policy in response to criticism
Thursday, November 19, 2009
After a week-long comment period in which 7,000 Facebook users voiced their opinions, the giant social media network announced that it would overhaul and simplify its privacy policy.
The announcement was made, naturally, via a Facebook blog post by Michael Richter, the company's deputy general counsel for intellectual property, product and regulatory affairs. Richter wrote that Facebook will "build on the progress we've already made in making the document more accessible by also adding definitions of key terms, screen shots of important pages and informational 'learn more' videos. We think these visual resources will make it even easier to understand how privacy works on Facebook."
CNET notes that the popular social media site has come under fire from various regulatory agencies and consumer groups around the world for a perceived lack of attention paid to the protection of user privacy. The company took a particular public beating in 2007 over the "Beacon" advertising plan, which many said was a gross invasion of the privacy of Facebook users.
The popular Consumerist blog also slammed Facebook this summer for a program that took user photos and used them in targeted advertisements.
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